Orang Asli water catchment area destroyed

The state environment department said the company clearing the land had ignored their conditions.

GUA MUSANG: More than 200 Orang Asli settlers in Pos Kuala Koh, near the Kuala Koh National Park, here, claim they are facing a serious river pollution problem that has affected their daily lives.

This followed the state governments action of approving land near theirsettlement for a company to carry out farming activities on the land, causingthe river water to be muddy while the land clearing has also destroyed the watercatchment area uphill, from where the settlers water supply comes from.

Pos Kuala Kohs village chief Hamdan Keladi said the problem had been brought to the attention of various parties including federal and state government leadersbut so far, their had been no action.

He feared that if no remedial action was taken, the settlers would face moreserious land erosion and river pollution problems while they depended on theriver for their daily water supply.

We really hope the government would take immediate action to preventlarge-scale land clearing in the area in order to protect the environment, hesaid during a visit to the land clearing site.

Meanwhile, the Department of Environments Gua Musang branch head, RohimiHarun who was present during the visit, said it viewed seriously theenvironmental problem that had affected the lives of the Orang Asli settlers inthe area.

He said investigation was being carried out to collect information andevidence of violation of environmental regulations before legal action could betaken against the party responsible.

The company clearing the land for farming actvities had made an applicationto the department and promised to adhere to the conditions and environmentalregulations.

He have come here to investigate after receiving public complaints on theproblem.

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Orang Asli water catchment area destroyed